1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices and methods for attachment of a device within a patient's digestive tract. In particular, the present invention relates to devices and methods for treatment of obesity and/or its comorbidities, such as diabetes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Bariatrics is the field of medicine encompassing the study of overweight, its causes, prevention and treatment. Bariatric surgery is a treatment for morbid obesity that involves alteration of a patient's digestive tract to encourage weight loss and to help maintain normal weight. Known bariatric surgery procedures include jejuno-ileal bypass, jejuno-colic shunt, biliopancreatic diversion, gastric bypass, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, gastroplasty, gastric banding, vertical banded gastroplasty, and silastic ring gastroplasty. A more complete history of bariatric surgery can be found in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/422,987 Apparatus and Methods for Treatment of Morbid Obesity and also on the website of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery at http://www.asbs.org.
Medical sleeve devices for placement in a patient's stomach are described by Rockey in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,501,264, 4,641,653 and 4,763,653. The medical sleeve described in these patents are said to reduce the surface area available for absorption in the stomach, however it is not configured to effectively reduce the volume of the stomach nor will the described isolate ingested food from stomach secretions. Other sleeve devices for placement in a patient's intestines are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,134,405 (Smit), U.S. Pat. No. 4,315,509 (Smit), U.S. Pat. No. 5,306,300 (Berry), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,584 (Crabb). The sleeve devices described in these patents are said to be placed at the lower end of the stomach and therefore do not serve to isolate ingested food from the digestive secretions of the stomach.
In U.S. Patent Application US 2003/0040804, Stack et al. describe a satiation device to aid in weight loss by controlling feelings of hunger. The patent application describes an antral tube that expands into the antrum of the stomach to create a feeling of satiation. In U.S. Patent Application US 2003/0040808, Stack et al. describe a satiation device for inducing weight loss in a patient includes a tubular prosthesis positionable such that an opening at its proximal end receives masticated food from the esophagus, and such that the masticated food passes through the pouch and into the stomach via an opening in its distal end.
In U.S. Patent Application US 2003/0120265, Deem et al. describe various obesity treatment tools and methods for reducing the size of the stomach pouch to limit the caloric intake as well as to provide an earlier feeling of satiety. The smaller pouches may be made using individual anchoring devices, rotating probes, or volume reduction devices applied directly from the interior of the stomach. A pyloroplasty procedure to render the pyloric sphincter incompetent and a gastric bypass procedure using atraumatic magnetic anastomosis devices are also described.
In U.S. Patent Application US 2003/0144708, Starkebaum describes methods and systems for treating patients suffering from eating disorders and obesity using electrical stimulation directly or indirectly to the pylorus of a patient to substantially close the pylorus lumen to inhibit emptying of the stomach.
Not withstanding the foregoing, there remains a need for a perorally deployable device for the treatment of obesity and/or its comorbidities, as well as a way to attach the device and to position a bypass tube within the intestine.